For those interested in rural community development, the provincial government’s consultations during January and February on the parameters of the Southwestern Ontario development fund, announced by the Liberals during the election, will be an important opportunity to have your say and hear what others are saying about the critical economic development priorities facing this large and diverse geography of the province.  Key questions raised by the government’s consultation paper pose fundamentally different potential areas of focus, e.g. should the fund support only employment outcomes/business driven projects or could industry associations, municipalities and non-profits also be eligible?  Given limits to the size of the fund it is also worth pausing to reflect on what proportion might be absorbed by projects in large urban areas.  No doubt there are any number of worthwhile initiatives in large centres such as Hamilton, K-W, London, Windsor, Brantford etc…so rural Ontario stakeholders may anticipate stiff competition to get into the funding queue and it will be interesting to see how many suggest that the province contemplate the wisdom of allocations for initiatives in smaller towns.

The locations of the consultations are as follows and registration is required before January 23^rd 

Owen Sound    January 26
Windsor           January 27  AM
St. Thomas      January 27 PM
St. Catharines  February 3
Guelph             February 6 

http://www.ontariocanada.com/ontcan/1medt/en/swodf_en.jsp 

Norman Ragetlie, Director, Policy & Stakeholder Engagement

Nominations are now open for the 2012 Ontario's Outstanding Young Farmers' Program.  Nominees may be individuals, partners or couples who derive a minimum of two-thirds of their gross revenue from farming and are under the age of 40 as of January 1 in the year of competition.

Nomination forms can be downloaded below or from the OOYF website at www.oyfontario.ca and must be received by December 15, 2011.

2012 Call for Nominations news release.pdf (26.29 kb) 

Nomination Form.pdf (262.86 kb)

The second annual Rural Research Workshop - "Policy and Research in Community Investment" is being held May 24-25, 2012 in Ottawa.

If you are interested in rural research and the linkage to policy and practice book the dates in your calendar now. If you are a researcher with findings to share, submit them now.

More information can be found at:  http://www.crrf.ca/?page_id=556

The Rural Ontario Municipal Association has released a discussion paper “A Voice for Rural and Northern Ontario” in which it renews its call for the Province to consistently apply a rural lens as policy proposals are being developed by various Ministries and taken to Queens Park for consideration.  Largely drawn from a previous report from 2007 the call is timely now as every party reflects on how to make a minority parliament work and how they can be seen to support initiatives that will demonstrate they can govern in the best interests of all Ontarions regardless of urban, rural or northern geographic representation.  With the fiscal challenges facing us here in the province such a move to reject polarization and consider all perspectives would be welcome.  This goes beyond new legislation.  With the forthcoming release of Don Drummond’s report we know that important reconsiderations of where the province can reduce public expenditures and what requires continuing investment is going to be on the agenda – any reallocation should be looked at from every angle and how that might impact different communities in the province.

The discussion paper can be accessed at this link.

Norman Ragetlie, Director, Policy & Stakeholder Engagement

Help kick off November’s National 4-H Month and wear green on November 2nd.  This annual ‘Show Your 4-H Colours’ event is designed to help celebrate the significant role that 4-H has played and continues to play in the development of youth across Canada. 

As one of Canada’s longest-running youth organizations, 4-H has played an important role in youth development for over 98 years, offering fun, excitement and learning for youth in large and small communities across Canada. Currently more than 8,600 trained volunteer leaders help over 26,000 4-H members develop self-confidence and learn a wide variety of skills through hands-on project work.  Over its 98 year history, 4-H counts hundreds of thousands of 4-H alumni who have gained valuable skills through this important and worthwhile program.  Many, in the workforce today across the country and beyond, credit their involvement in 4-H for helping them to succeed and prosper.

On this the ‘eve’ of National 4-H Month in Canada, take the time to show your support for 4-H in Canada.  Join the crowd and wear green on November 2, 2011!

Rob Black, Chief Executive Officer

In rural Ontario, especially on the fringe of the GTA, there are a series of long battles going on.  The OMB is hearing the arguments of aggregate proponents seeking new pit licences and the counter-arguments of local citizens' groups and provincial environmental organizations.  Water resources, farmland, wetlands and woodlands are at stake.  The costs of road building and construction are at stake.  A recent article draws attention to the possibility that the opposing sides might actually be able to find some compromise and help avoid more of the costly and frustrating processes of pitting lawyers and experts against one another.   A well-balanced article by Tim Shuff in the recent issue of In The Hills “Can Gravel Be Green”  describes an interesting agreement and the creation of the Socially and Environmentally Responsible Aggregate (SERA) organization to certify aggregate operations following more responsible practices. http://www.inthehills.ca/2011/09/current/green-gravel/

The Rural Ontario Institute is pleased to be a co-sponsor of an upcoming seminar with the Canadian Urban Institute, SERA and the Canada Green Building Council on October 27, 2011 in Brampton to explore how Ontario can use more recycled aggregate and thereby avoid the impacts of extracting and transporting aggregate.  Other countries use a lower proportion of “virgin” aggregate than we now use – why aren't we? How do we get there from here so that our rural environment can suffer less degradation?  Register here.   https://canurb.org/civicrm/event/info?reset=1&id=68

Norman Ragetlie, Director, Policy & Stakeholder Engagement

Rural Ontario Institute (ROI) board member, Chris White will be on the current affairs program The Agenda with Steve Paikin, as a panelist on the topic of ‘The Political Divide:  Is there a Rural/ Urban Divide?’, next Monday evening, October 17, 2011.  ROI was contacted by TVO mid week and asked to put forward some names for consideration by the producer of the show.  Chris is going to represent and bring forward the rural perspective along with panelists Gary McNamara, AMO President and Mayor of Tecumseh; John Tory, Chair of the Greater Toronto CivicAction Alliance, host of Live Drive with John Tory on Newstalk 1010 radio in Toronto, and former leader of the Ontario Progressive Conservative Party (2004 to 2009); and John Duffy, from StrategyCorp.  

The show is being taped on Monday afternoon, October 17^th and will be aired on Monday evening of the same day, at 8:00 p.m. and 11:00 p.m. on TVOntario.  Check your local TV company/ service provider for the specific channel in your neighbourhood!

If you missed the show on Monday evening, you can access the YouTube version of the entire segment by clicking here.

Rob Black, Chief Executive Officer

2010 data from a study that came out this  May contains information with urban/rural comparisons for Canadian households and the extent to which they are accessing the internet.  The proportion of rural Canadian households accessing the internet sits at around 71% whereas cities have access rates around 81%.  Access rates also differ depending on the province you are in and the level of household income and age. 

The purposes Canadians connect to the internet goes far beyond email and social networking – accessing information about government services, researching health issues and searching for employment, for example, are all important reasons people give for using the internet.  We think this study builds the business case for rural advocates who continue to urge government support for increasing broadband access for rural Canadians.

In 2010, 8 out of 10 Canadian households (79%) had access to the Internet. Over one-half of connected households used more than one type of device to go online.  About 81% of households located in census metropolitan areas and 76% of households located in census agglomerations had home Internet access, compared with 71% of households outside of these areas.  Rates of access were highest in British Columbia (84%) and Alberta (83%), followed by Ontario, where the rate was 81%.  (The Canadian Internet Use Survey was redesigned for 2010 and its findings should not be compared with those from previous surveys).  http://www.statcan.gc.ca/daily-quotidien/110525/dq110525b-eng.htm

Norman Ragetlie, Director, Policy & Stakeholder Engagement

Further to the Rural Ontario Institute’s efforts to gather and provide information on each party’s platforms regarding rural concerns in the current provincial election we came across this resource prepared by the Ontario Municipal Social Services Association.  http://www.omssa.com/lib/db2file.asp?fileid=37255  It is heartening to see that the Association thought it important to look at the commitments to rural Ontarions in the context of their overall interest in Municipal Finance, Housing, Child Care/Early Learning, Seniors, Poverty/Economic Security,and Northerners. 

Norman Ragetlie, Director, Policy & Stakeholder Engagement

The Rural Ontario Institute received a detailed response from the provincial Liberal party to the “Questions of Importance to Rural and Small Town Ontario”.  Several weeks ago we posed these questions to the leaders of each of the 4 main parties.  Premier McGuinty’s reply begins….

Thank you very much for your letter and questions on behalf of the Rural Ontario Institute. Ontario Liberals recognize that small towns and rural communities face unique challenges and circumstances. I am pleased to provide you with the attached response, which outlines the Ontario Liberal Party’s position on these issues of vital importance.

The question by question responses are posted verbatim here.